Ratings v Morecambe

[tarquinbeech]

My first attempt...be gentle

Notts - Cracking first half, busy 10 men all over the pitch...sceond half started a bit slow, maybe KN told them to "manage the game better" ie slow it down, knock 5 minutes off the clock....finished strong

On an average of 6.5

Collin - 7.Not a lot to do except marshall the defence, good save late in the 2nd half

Hunt - 6.5, looks short of match fitness (was he injured last week)?....no errors

Duffy and Bristle...joint 7.5. Solid pair, cleared everything in the air...calm and composed

Jones - 9. Wow, wow, wow....I want to have his babies....from a shocker at Covo, this guy looks sheer class. Massive engine in him. Cracking tackles. Superb goal. Power and placement from a swinging leg stance.....did I say he was good earlier?

Hawk - 8.75. Bags of energy. Quality balls. Great close passing. Just pipped by Jones as my MOM. If this guy starts scoring we will finish comfortably in the top half

Yates - 8. Some crunching tackles both in defence and attack. Quality player that will only get better as he gets older

Hewitt - 7/7.5. Not sure about Hewy. He looks busy and makes no obvious errors but he's a tough guy to rate. Why is wearing two sets of clothes for every game...is it a bit chilly?

Grant - 7.5. Bags of skill and confidence but outshone today by Jones and Hawk. A bit greedy sometimes when shooting. Was that a deliberate shot from 40 odd yards. Forte just stood and stared at him in disgust.

Shola - 7. Not really in the game much and in a perverse way, I'm glad he took a knock to show us what Stead and Forte can do. Hope he's not injured obviously.....ps, is it my imagination, or did we see less up-n-unders today, thank goodness.

Stead - 7.5. For a striker aged 64, he occasionally shows a burst of pace that startles defenders. Held the ball up well today, especially after Shola went off and he became the main target man...... Nice close control

Subs:
Forte 8.25 - A little tear of joy crept out of Tarkers eye when he sprinted onto the through ball on the left edge of the 6-yard box, steadied himself and calmly slid it past the advancing keeper into the opposite corner. For one horrible minute I thought it was going to hit the timber, but no......Mr Cool as a summer-pointy-vegetable, was already calmly strolling off to meet his ecstatic team-mates. Two wow's for Forte

Milsom - No idea. I still cannot read the shirt numbers....I'm giving him a 6.5 for cleverly blending in with his team-mates

Aless - Not enough time to get a sweat on.

Great day, great controlled game, great result......the Cosmic Rays work, I told you so....off to get rat-arsed.

[ancientpie]

Not a bad 1st attempt tarks & very enthusiastic marks.
Although last season we would have found a way to throw it I actually thought that it was a very comfortable win against a very poor side, as regards marks & comment, I thought that Shola was having a great game & creating loads of space for others so I hope he is not out for long. Stead looks desperate for a goal but his work rate today couldn't be faulted & for the 1st time I thought that the Stead/Forte partnership looked dangerous so if as Nolan suggested after the game they start together on Tuesday it could be interesting.

[i961pie]

My first attempt...be gentle

Notts - Cracking first half, busy 10 men all over the pitch...sceond half started a bit slow, maybe KN told them to "manage the game better" ie slow it down, knock 5 minutes off the clock....finished strong

On an average of 6.5

Collin - 7.Not a lot to do except marshall the defence, good save late in the 2nd half

Hunt - 6.5, looks short of match fitness (was he injured last week)?....no errors

Duffy and Bristle...joint 7.5. Solid pair, cleared everything in the air...calm and composed

Jones - 9. Wow, wow, wow....I want to have his babies....from a shocker at Covo, this guy looks sheer class. Massive engine in him. Cracking tackles. Superb goal. Power and placement from a swinging leg stance.....did I say he was good earlier?

Hawk - 8.75. Bags of energy. Quality balls. Great close passing. Just pipped by Jones as my MOM. If this guy starts scoring we will finish comfortably in the top half

Yates - 8. Some crunching tackles both in defence and attack. Quality player that will only get better as he gets older

Hewitt - 7/7.5. Not sure about Hewy. He looks busy and makes no obvious errors but he's a tough guy to rate. Why is wearing two sets of clothes for every game...is it a bit chilly?

Grant - 7.5. Bags of skill and confidence but outshone today by Jones and Hawk. A bit greedy sometimes when shooting. Was that a deliberate shot from 40 odd yards. Forte just stood and stared at him in disgust.

Shola - 7. Not really in the game much and in a perverse way, I'm glad he took a knock to show us what Stead and Forte can do. Hope he's not injured obviously.....ps, is it my imagination, or did we see less up-n-unders today, thank goodness.

Stead - 7.5. For a striker aged 64, he occasionally shows a burst of pace that startles defenders. Held the ball up well today, especially after Shola went off and he became the main target man...... Nice close control

Subs:
Forte 8.25 - A little tear of joy crept out of Tarkers eye when he sprinted onto the through ball on the left edge of the 6-yard box, steadied himself and calmly slid it past the advancing keeper into the opposite corner. For one horrible minute I thought it was going to hit the timber, but no......Mr Cool as a summer-pointy-vegetable, was already calmly strolling off to meet his ecstatic team-mates. Two wow's for Forte

Milsom - No idea. I still cannot read the shirt numbers....I'm giving him a 6.5 for cleverly blending in with his team-mates

Aless - Not enough time to get a sweat on.

Great day, great controlled game, great result......the Cosmic Rays work, I told you so....off to get rat-arsed.

A bit over the top imo Tarqs
Collins 7
Hunt 6
Duffy7
Brisley7
Jones 8
Yates 6
Grant 6
Shola 7
Hewitt 6.5
Stead 6.5
Hawks 6.5
Forte 7 for scoring.
Good first half and a good win but scrappy second half and not many clear cut chances.
Interesting to see how we play against better opposition, Morecambe were poor.

[tarquinbeech]

A bit over the top imo Tarqs
Collins 7
Hunt 6
Duffy7
Brisley7
Jones 8
Yates 6
Grant 6
Shola 7
Hewitt 6.5
Stead 6.5
Hawks 6.5
Forte 7 for scoring.
Good first half and a good win but scrappy second half and not many clear cut chances.
Interesting to see how we play against better opposition, Morecambe were poor.

I think I've just found the marking examiner that did me out of my Applied Mathematics "A" level.......i961, you nearly cost my place on the pre-Sandhurst Army Course, do you know that?

ps I failed it anyway, after getting caught with a certain young lady in the Westbury Snooker Room at 3am......I was hoping for extra marks for initiative but the admissions board didn't see it that way.......I forgive you.

ps I agree, Morecambe didn't look anything special.....but you can only beat the team that's put in front of you.....Mansfield will be a bigger test for sure.

[navypie]

My lad said Hewitt was MOM but then again he always does ! A very strange 12 year old in my opinion but a massive Notts fan like his dad ! Gonna be able to make Tuesday , oh my , how i have missed Notts !

[andy6025]

Didn't see the match so can't comment on that, but Tarkers - your scores don't add up to an average of 6.5. Looks somewhere in the 7.5-8 range?

[optipez]

Collin 7.5 Made a very tidy save from a corner, came off his line when he had to, kept a clean sheet. Can't ask for more.

Hunt 6 Never looked flustered.

Jones 8 MOTM. Scored a goal, nearly had a second, overlapped, solid in defence and generally a class act.

Duffy 6 Solid, did nothing wrong.

Brisley 6.5 Again, solid makes Duffy look a better player.

Hawkriidge 6 Massive work rate , did get crosses over, and helped Hunt in defence. He may be limited, but his attitude and effort can't be faulted.

Hewitt 7 He is morphing from a liability right back to a saleable asset centre midfielder. Rock hard tackler, rangy with no little skill.

Yates 7 Along with Hewitt another mobile hard tackling no nonsense centre midfielder.

Grant 6.5 Drifted in and out a little, but he does have a bit of class about him which is crucial in a workmanlike team.

Ameobi 6.5 He is a really good target man with a good touch at this level. Really ought to have scored from a corner first half.

Stead 6.5 A really good professional footballer. Motivates himself week after week to slog it out . He needs a goal from open play , could do with being half a hard quicker, but, as a team player he's faultless.

Subs

Forte 7 Scored a well taken goal from a tight angle and continually turned Morecambes defence.

Milsom 6 Worked hard , as did the whole team and can count himself unlucky not to be starting. Player of the year last season and an asset to have on the bench.

Alessandro 6 Not really on long enough to make an impact.

Morecambe were poor, but probably no poorer than last season when they mugged us. We are a better outfit than the last couple of seasons and with a great start to the season you have to hope that we can stay in the top half of the table this season.
Hewitt and Yates are a pair of monsters in the middle of the pitch and it's nice to see us have a mobile pair with bite and athleticism. At the end of the day, if you can't run , you can't play in midfield.

[MAD_MAGPIE]

Collin 7.5 Made a very tidy save from a corner, came off his line when he had to, kept a clean sheet. Can't ask for more.

Hunt 6 Never looked flustered.

Jones 8 MOTM. Scored a goal, nearly had a second, overlapped, solid in defence and generally a class act.

Duffy 6 Solid, did nothing wrong.

Brisley 6.5 Again, solid makes Duffy look a better player.

Hawkriidge 6 Massive work rate , did get crosses over, and helped Hunt in defence. He may be limited, but his attitude and effort can't be faulted.

Hewitt 7 He is morphing from a liability right back to a saleable asset centre midfielder. Rock hard tackler, rangy with no little skill.

Yates 7 Along with Hewitt another mobile hard tackling no nonsense centre midfielder.

Grant 6.5 Drifted in and out a little, but he does have a bit of class about him which is crucial in a workmanlike team.

Ameobi 6.5 He is a really good target man with a good touch at this level. Really ought to have scored from a corner first half.

Stead 6.5 A really good professional footballer. Motivates himself week after week to slog it out . He needs a goal from open play , could do with being half a hard quicker, but, as a team player he's faultless.

Subs

Forte 7 Scored a well taken goal from a tight angle and continually turned Morecambes defence.

Milsom 6 Worked hard , as did the whole team and can count himself unlucky not to be starting. Player of the year last season and an asset to have on the bench.

Alessandro 6 Not really on long enough to make an impact.

Morecambe were poor, but probably no poorer than last season when they mugged us. We are a better outfit than the last couple of seasons and with a great start to the season you have to hope that we can stay in the top half of the table this season.
Hewitt and Yates are a pair of monsters in the middle of the pitch and it's nice to see us have a mobile pair with bite and athleticism. At the end of the day, if you can't run , you can't play in midfield.

I thought we started the game superbly and went out of the blocks all guns blazing. The first half was a decent contest and it was good that we managed to take the lead through a superb free kick from Jones who was rightly man of the match. The second half I thought we absorbed a bit more pressure from Morecombe but generally they were a very poor side. However at 1-0 up it was no smash and grab. Once Forte got the second goal that was sealed it.

I guess the question is can Hewitt and Yates be as good as Bishop and Ravenhill were? If so then we will do well as at this level you need two spoilers in midfield. This leaves the creativity to come from the likes of Grant and Hawkridge. What is also good is that we have different options on the bench

It's great that we are 3rd after 6 games and have 13 points on the board so require 37 points to get to the magic 50 points. I'm remaining cautiously optimisitic because too many times we have started a season well and once the clocks go back and the weather turns we have had dreadful winters. Last season was a perfect example.

However in Nolan and Hardy we trust and we have now only lost once at home in the new era and this calendar year which was the 3-1 defeat to Portsmouth in April. That's 1 defeat in 13 home matches so credit to all the staff and players for making Meadow Lane a fortress so far in 2017.

[tarquinbeech]

Didn't see the match so can't comment on that, but Tarkers - your scores don't add up to an average of 6.5. Looks somewhere in the 7.5-8 range?

Correct Andy....I will rephrase it......"in a winning team performance, with no obvious errors, I refuse to mark anyone lower than a 6 ie above 6.5 means you've had a good game, 6.5 means they had an average game"

[Carlton_Pie]

Average mark is a 6:

Collin: 7-not a lot to do until the final few minutes when Notts dropped off and he made a good save to deny Garry Thompson 1 on 1

Hunt: 6- solid, good position and did nothing wrong. Would prefer Tootle as he is more mobile and gets forward more

Brisley: 7- always in the right position and won ever header. Goes about his business with no fuss.

Duffy: 6- did a lot of ugly things well, tackle and block but makes some very strange decisions when it comes to competing for headers. He seems to think it's ok not jump and either let the attacker win the header or feign injury, hoping for a free kick, both risky strategies.

Hunt: 8- solid at the back and got forward well, overlapping Hawkridge. Of course scored a fantastic freekick which allowed us to control the game.

Hawkridge: 6- worked hard but wasted the ball in decent crossing opportunities. He and Jones are forging a good partnership down the left.

Hewitt: 7-seem to be writing the same every match. Screened the back 4 well, covers the pitch

Yates: 7- Very strong in the tackle and sometimes reckless but he drives the team forward. Tried to get the ball down and pass it

Grant: 6- not his best game, tried to link the play where he could.

Ameobi: 5- usually a fan of his but teams seem to have worked him out by putting someone in front of him. Came off injured and Notts looked more threatening with Forte on the pitch

Stead: 6- worked his socks off again but his shooting is dreadful and he is obviously lacking confidence in front of goal. His link up play and control was slightly better than previous weeks

Forte: 7- just the fact that he can run the channels made Notts a better team. Isn't the best footballer in terms of passing or crossing and wasted a few balls but give him chance and he will hit the target like he did for the goal. Will be interesting to see how he gets on with a few starts

Milsom: 6- got the basics right and helped see out the game